


Paralogue: The Two Headed Eagle

by EmperoroftheUS



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route Spoilers, Mentioned Black Eagles Students (Fire Emblem), Politics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24835558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmperoroftheUS/pseuds/EmperoroftheUS
Summary: As Edelgard renews her campaign of unification of Fódlan, she begins to come at odds with her newest General, her old Professor Byleth. She is uncomfortable with pulling rank with her teacher, but she has fundamental disagreements with the mercenary’s tactics. Yet neither know that tactics  won’t be the only thing they talk about...
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Paralogue: The Two Headed Eagle

Edelgard heard a familiar and expected triple knock upon her office door. “Come in,” she answered in a half hearted sternness. She was Emperor, but she would always be Byleth’s pupil and trying to treat him as a subordinate always felt foreign, especially as she prepared to reprimand him. 

Her professor gracefully glided into the room, his coat trailing behind him like a set of ebony wings. Edelgard felt her resolve soften as soon as he came into view. She felt her heart drop and she was starting to swoon, along with an emptying of her stomach. Guilt came over her: what kind of student admonishes their teacher? Edelgard tightened her grip on her pen and steadied herself: she couldn’t let her personal biases obfuscate her Imperial ministrations, especially in regard to the prosecution of war. “Thank you for coming, professor. I have much to discuss with you”

“So do I” Edelgard managed to hold Byleth’s icy gaze, but she sensed an inferno blazing right under the surface. It stung, but there was a heat to it, and also warmth. It was not the disapproving gaze which Byleth extended upon a misbehaving student, or the frightening antipathy he showed his true enemies. He was angry at her, but it was an anger reserved to a trusted friend and equal during a heated argument.  _ What am I to him  _ Edelgard questioned, and hoped, but quickly squashed that thought and reserved for future inquiry. 

“I’ve been informed that in our last battle, you gave our forces the orders to ‘capture enemies alive whenever possible’”

“And if I did” he answered steadily. “Do you no longer trust my judgement?”

“Professor, you shall always be my most trusted general, but I simply cannot see the utility of risking the lives of our men for our enemies. These men and women are putting their lives on the line for our cause and if we do not do everything in our power to achieve victory in their name then we are not only failing ourselves but we are failing them as well. They look up to you, teacher: many of the officers are your students”  _ As am I,  _ she desperately wished to add. 

The fire in Byleth’s eyes grew into a blaze, and though he maintained his composer his jaw was clenched angrily. “You’d best reccount whom are your classmates, and whom was my pupils”

“Professor what do you-”

“Edelgard you are too smart for such a stupid question!” He yelled angrily. “Has 5 years been long enough to forget that the soldiers you command me to slaughter mercilessly are the same students you lived and learned besides back in Garrech Mach? Sometimes I wonder if they removed your heart when they gave you that crest!”

The Emperor gawked at her tactician, at a loss for words. She let her pen fall from her hands, unable to string a sentence together. It was all she could but let loose tears. “Oh” she half whimpered half whispered. Byleth was shocked that he even had that in himself: the sound of his voice was still ringing in his own ears. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and turned away from Edelgard. He started towards the door intent on vacating, then stopped in his tracks. 

“Edelgard, I’m sorry… Do you remember, 5 years ago, when we stopped ‘Tomas’, and I… became like this.”

Edelgard was snapped from her spell, but simply nodded, not wanting to let a sob loose that she felt build in her chest. 

“I told you that, with this power, I’d defend my students. When I said that, I didn’t think I’d ever have to choose which students I’d protect. I meant them all: Black Eagles, and Blue Lions, and Golden Deer. If I can avoid it, I will not kill my own students”

“Professor” Edelgard began, “I understand that in your absence you’ve not yet confronted this reality yet, but having fought my classmates for 5 years, they are no longer our comrades or friends, they are our enemies, standing in our path. Can you not see that such idealism will only jeopardize all we’re fighting for?”

“It’s because of my ideal that you stand here today: when the Archbishop told me to kill you, to strike you down, I didn’t believe my ears. I thought that some trickery of the senses led me to believe those words fell from her mouth. But no, she meant every word. As I realized that I would have to kill my own pupil to maintain allegiance with Rhea and her ‘academy’, those words turned hollow. The prospect of being a teacher in a school where executions are acceptable punishments was no school I wished to teach at. Yours was not the only mask which slipped.”

Edelgard frowned. “The Flame Emperor… you never commented on that discovery, not really. You keep too much to yourself. I take it that His Majesty gave you no joy?”

“He brings me sorrow in fact: he was the enemy… he is the enemy. He represents a side of you that I’ve always feared, more than the church, more than those who slither in the dark.I believe in you Edelgard: the only thing in your way is yourself, is the Flame Emperor. You must Rule Fódlan, not he.”

“I’m sorry, but I need him. To fight the monsters I am up against, I need my own demonic beasts, and like it or not the Flame Emperor rules Monsters. Without him, I would have to fight a whole continent by myself with a reduced army, all the while waiting for those who slither in the dark to slit my throat while I’m unaware. I can’t let this world fall apart just because I’m reluctant to do what Must be done”

Byleth sighed, and sat down exacerbated. “I wish you wouldn’t try to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders so often: it’s exhausting just to watch. Edelgard, you seem to believe that you must fight this war all by yourself, that you can fight this war all by yourself, and that you fight alone. You aren’t a one woman army: you have the citizens of the Adrestian Empire behind you, your soldiers who will die for you. Your Friends, the Black Eagle Strike Force… and you have me. You don’t need these creatures whose loyalty is perpendicular to your utility to them: they are eager to bite the hand that feeds them. I wish that you could see that there isn’t just one possible solution to any problem, and that you can rely on us. Maybe if you did…”

“Maybe if I did what? 

“Never mind” Byleth brushes off her question. “I understand your point and will consider it in when formulating strategy in our next battle”

“Professor?” Edelgard inquired. As he began to leave the room, she repeated “Professor!” Louder. Finally, as he was about to leave the room, she yelled: “Byleth!”. The professor finally halted, and looked back to his Emperor, a strained look on his face. “What is it you wish to say? Please tell me, I beg you”

“Maybe if you did, my father would still be alive”

Edelgard recoiled, a deep pit opening in her core. She stood from her chair and slowly approached Byleth. “Byleth, I’m so sorry that happened… if I could turn back time I’d-”

“That wouldn’t help” Byleth wiped his face with his hand, and stoically looked to Edelgard’s bewildered expression. “I think”, Byleth suggested, his brow furrowed in thought, “That my Father’s death was somehow fated, an inevitable tragedy. Nevertheless, it was your collaboration with those who slither in the dark that let Kronya and Thales infiltrate the monastery and fulfill their assasination: I don’t think I can blame you truly, as the full extent of their machinations seemed alien even to you, but it vexes me so that you choose them as your first option rather than options which may have less unpredictable and… dire consequences.”

Edelgard reached across from Byleth to close the door. “Before we continue we need to keep the door shut: the walls have ears.” She pulled back Byleth. “I’m sorry for the awkward transition: sometimes I am too much of a politician for my own good”. Byleth nodded, and gave a half hearted smile. 

“Edelgard, why do you always first try to make enemies before allies?” He began as soon as they moved into the room. “At the very start of the school year, those Brigands attempted to attack the incoming students. Were you responsible for that attack?” 

Edelgard maintained eye contact, but she struggled under the gaze of her mentor. “Those who slither in the dark had already paid those brigands when I was approached to help with that assasination… which I did so.” Her eyes slid down towards her knees, feeling admonished like a misbehaved hound. “I can understand how I must be frustrating: I do these things which hurt you, and then I hide behind my uncle and his cronies to avoid blameworthiness. If I do hide behind them than perhaps I too slither in the dark” 

Byleth struggled to not make a sympathetic face: he did not want her to suffer under her guilt but he believed that right now a healthy amount of regret may get the point across better. “Edelgard, had you ever considered trying to persuade Dimitri and Claude to your perspective” 

“Professor, wars can’t be won with words alone… did you mean when we were still in school?” Byleth nodded. “No, I suppose not… I’m not sure how I could have broached the subject of raising a rebellion against the church with them, it would have been too risky. Dimitri was too honorbound to consider such an unorthodox proposition, and Claude, well one could only guess what really was going on in Claude’s mind. But these sound like excuses yet again: no professor I never really did try and reach out to them. Maybe you're right, I do make enemies much easier than I make friends. I’m blessed to have any comrades at all, not least you”

Byleth allowed himself a comforting smile. “Dimitri and Claude weren't exactly handing out the olive leaves themselves: a third of the time an argument between you three was your fault, but two thirds of the time it was one of those boys.” Edelgard hazarded a small smile. “But if all three of you had failings in making alliances with disagreeable personalities in your school days, perhaps this war can be won by one side doing just that. If the enemy soldiers realize that they are not fighting a monstrous tyrant who takes no prisoners, they may be more likely to capitulate. Can you not see the utility in that?”

Edelgard regarded his advice. “That is logical” the Emperor admitted. “But the inverse is also true: being too merciful will make the enemy no longer fear us, and will create resentment amongst our soldiers. Would you want to be led by a commander who seems to value the lives of the enemy more than your own?”

“No” he conceded. “There is a golden mean: not too merciful, not too cruel. But something must be done with those who slither in the dark: whatever they touch is stained with horror”

“Too true” Edelgard agreed “But when tragedy occurs it must be dealt with, no matter how daunting or uncomfortable it may be, and tragedy has already struck Adrestia. From the insurrection of the seven to Lord Arundel’s Regency, this country is already in the vice grip of these conspirators and has been for upwards of 20 years, if not longer. If I try and actively oppose them then I may very well end up in a civil war whilst fighting two-thirds of Foldán, and that’s only if Dagda doesn’t decide to intervene in our time of weakness”

“That is concerning” Byleth concurred. Byleth quickly ran some basic arithmetic, and realized that losing even ten percent of their fighting forces would lead to total frontline collapse. Perhaps it’s his experience as a mercenary but he’s never truly considered the political considerations of warfare; usually he and his father would find themselves somewhere on the continent, receive a request of some sort (usually putting down briginds or slaying roving monsters), get the details of the job and if all goes well get paid in the end. It hadn’t even occurred to him before that the decision to hire him by the local governments he worked for was a part of this complex decision making process itself. 

“But if your continued loyalty requires ostracizing those who slither in the dark, then I shall inform Huebert to expedite our shadow campaign against them. The only matter now is to practice restraint, or else let my eagerness to begone with those scoundrels overtake my prudence”

Byleth nodded in contentment. “Well then I should be off: I promised Caspar and Petra to help them with a drill, and they wanted me to try and drag Lindhardt and Bernadetta out with them. That will be a challenge, so I should begin immediately” As the Professor began to leave the office, Edelgard reached for his sleeve. He looked back, and for a second saw something more than a powerful Emperor or a past student. He saw a woman, smiling softly at him 

“Thank you Professor: sometimes I wonder what would happen without you, how far into the abyss I may go without your insight and wisdom. I do cherish those school days: I miss my classmates and it does cause me sorrow to fight them. Perhaps because I knew my reluctance I over corrected, attempting to entirely sever the bonds we made because how much they hurt now that we were being torn apart. But those bonds are important, even if they hurt, and I shall never forsake them again”

Byleth bared a toothy grin, and then moved on towards his business. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my first story in their site. While this story is wholly standalone, it will be canonical for a larger FanFiction project I’ve been working on. Expect a new multi-chapter in the near future. Until then, enjoy!


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